Win to Lose
by S.J. Kohl
Summary: Cloud Strife is sick of being called innocent. He knows what he wants, and he's determined to get it. SephirothxCloudxZack
1. Chapter 1: Innocent

Win to Lose  
By S.J. Kohl  
Part One: Innocent

Pairing:(Cloud/Sephiroth/Zack)  
Rating: Pg-13

Summary: Cloud sees more than anyone gives him credit for.  
Disclaimer: They aren't mine. Apparently, they're Cloud's.

Cloud Strife was _not_ innocent.

He saw the heated glances Zack shot his way when he thought Cloud wasn't looking. And he knew what they meant, too. And he certainly hadn't missed the speculative gleam in the General's eye every time he watched Cloud practicing, shirtless and sweat soaked. He saw a lot of things, understood a lot of things, but no one would believe it to look at him. Zack and Sephiroth certainly didn't believe it. No, in their eyes, and in the eyes of the world, he was a small, wide-eyed innocent still stumbling to get his feet planted firmly on the ground. Cloud snorted derisively as he stomped down the light-flooded hallway of the exercise complex, his footsteps echoing sharply against the tiled floor. Like the world--and his friends--knew anything about him.

He'd been an outcast in Nibelheim--he no longer really thought of it as home. He'd been scorned, reviled. He certainly hadn't been sheltered. No, Cloud might be young, but he was not an innocent. And he knew exactly what he wanted.

The problem was getting it. Zack and Sephiroth were stubborn, too caught up in their own misplaced notions of protecting his virtue and his damned innocence to recognize that he might want to have a say in his own future. They wanted him. It was obvious to his eyes, trained by years of judging the facial expressions and body language of others in order to decide his own course of action. It was chancier to walk past someone who was feeling cruel and angry than someone who was sleepy and contented, after all, and he'd been spared many bruises and black eyes in Nibelheim through his ability to read people's moods. No, Cloud was dead certain by this point that both Zack and Sephiroth had fallen for him. Hard.

But neither of them would approach him. They wouldn't ask him to dance or take him to their beds. Just as they wouldn't approach one another. Cloud growled and ground his teeth in frustration as he stepped into the empty practice room, abandoned this late in the evening. It was dinner time and he should be eating with the other cadets, but he wasn't hungry. 

Pulling a long, wide-bladed sword from the closet in the far corner of the huge room, Cloud stepped into the room's center, far from any walls or any of the practice room's scant furnishings. Taking a deep breath, he began to move. As he worked through the simple motions of one of the first sword dances he'd been taught, he synchronized his body with his blade, allowing his muscles and limbs to flow along with the tilt and turn of the metal as it sliced the air.

They were idiots, both of them, too caught up in their honor and their self-pitying lust to see what was before their eyes. They were in love with one another. Cloud had seen it the first time he'd stumbled upon them in a private conversation. The easy companionship they shared, the sharp gleam of desire lurking in the backs of their eyes. Sephiroth's smile, Zack's husky laugh--were they blind?

Cloud snarled, slashing at the empty air and imagining a pair of teasing, dark blue eyes before him. He knew the answer to that question already. His dance grew faster, more complicated as he fell into the rhythms, his breath coming in quick gasps, his muscles warm now from exertion. But still he went on, thrusting and parrying, battling against an invisible enemy, twisting and flipping to avoid the wide sweeps of a ghost blade. They were blind, Zack and the General both. Neither of them could see the love Cloud knew flickered behind both blue eyes and green, and their friendship was too important to them to make any admissions or advances that might be unwanted, that might destroy what had been built between them.

And now they'd drawn Cloud into the mess they'd made of their lives. Of their love. He could see the battles raging within them whenever they saw him, whenever they spoke to him, sought him out. Wanted him. They were torn, the both of them, suffering from identical desires and identical agony. They had always loved each other. And now, they both loved him.

Letting lose a wild, bitter howl of rage and frustration, Cloud charged at the empty air, seeing Zack's and Sephiroth's faces mingling before his blade. Why was he the only one who saw the solution to this problem? Why was he the only one with any kind of sense and skills of bloody observation in this whole damned army? Sephiroth was the General for fuck's sake! He could have anything and everything he wanted. How could he even imagine that Cloud wouldn't give in to him, that Cloud wouldn't _love_ him? He was brilliant and beautiful, strong and powerful and gentle, and he was everything that Cloud had never known he needed.

And Zack… Cloud screamed again, spinning on his heel and lashing out with a fierce kick as his sword leapt out in a slicing sweep before him. His brow was dripping sweat, his breaths coming in labored gasps. Zack had been his first friend, the first person he'd ever known who'd cared about him, who'd listened to him and taken him seriously. Zack was, in a word, amazing. He was talented and skilled, a genius tactician, and he was friendly and open, honest to a fault. How could Cloud not have come to love him? Zack was what had given Cloud hope that there was some good in the world after all.

Zack and Sephiroth. He loved them both.

And it was time--more than time--to do something about it.

With a final forward dash and a furious sweep of his blade, Cloud beheaded his enemy and collapsed, gasping for breath, to his knees. Then he looked up with a feral smile and shook a lock of blond hair from his eyes.

He had some work to do. 


	2. Chapter 2: Sweat

Win to Lose  
Part Two: Sweat

Rating: R, for Zack's filthy mouth mostly  
Summary: Cloud has a plan.

"All right you bunch of floor-kissing, ass-grinding amateurs! Quit trying to see who's dick is bigger and form up in pairs." Zack crossed his arms over his chest and grinned to himself, being careful to keep his outward expression impassive. He loved training cadets. It was so much fun. This was an advanced class, kids who were only weeks away from their SOLDIER entrance exams. They were getting arrogant and argumentative, turning from friends to rivals. Zack smirked to himself. They needed to be taken down a peg or two. Sephiroth was the best man for _that_ job, of course. But the General had more important things on his mind than tormenting teenage boys.

Zack shrugged. All the more fun for him. "Hey!" he yelled, fighting the urge to laugh. "Put that fucking sword down! Do you think I'm stupid enough to set you blockheads up with live steel? You'd all be dead inside of a minute. Hand to hand, please and take off those ridiculous helmets, all of you. Carter, James, Roslin, Goneril, Kreider, you're on offense."

"And the rest of us, sir?" One hulking brute of a dark-haired boy called out.

Zack threw up his arms. "How in ShinRa's fat ass did you get past admissions, Davidson? Use that shriveled roach carcass you call a brain and think for a second. If you're not offense, what the hell is left? Now, on three. Start with a short right and go from there. Now. One, two--"

A low, familiar voice spoke softly from just behind him, lips almost brushing against his skin. Far too close. "Sir?"

Zack spun around, a red heat igniting in his blood. What the bloody hell was Cloud doing in his class? He cleared his throat, forcing his breath to stay even, his body to dull its interest. "Yes, cadet?"

"Sergeant Marston sent me over, sir. He said I'm more advanced than the rest of my group."

Zack frowned. This could be a problem. He already had an even number of cadets in this class, and with the addition of one more… He'd carefully avoided sparring with Cloud over the past weeks; it would be too close, too much. Zack took a deep breath and narrowed his eyes, stepping back and glancing up and down the length of Cloud's body, as if assessing the boy's strength. Still short, still growing, Cloud's body was nevertheless beginning to take on the form of a grown man. His shoulders were widening, tapering down into a slim waist and taut stomach. His muscles were lean and clearly defined against the fabric of dark blue uniform shirt. His arms were shapely, strong. The line of his jaw was firm and confident, the smooth line of his neck pale and enticing. And his eyes…they were as wide and blue, as young and innocent as ever. But there was something behind them…some gleam that Zack couldn't quite place. He almost whimpered. He was going to _kill_ Marston when this day was over. If he made it through the day. "All right, cadet." Zack swallowed. "You're with me, so keep on your toes." He looked around. "And the rest of you, why in fuck's name are you just standing around staring?"

With a guilty rustle of fabric, all the recruits spun around to face their partners.

"That's better. Now, short right. One, two," he paused for a moment. "Three!" Then he nodded in approval of the hard, unified slap of fists meeting blocking hands. He watched the fights for a moment, calling out corrections and mistakes as he saw them. Then he turned back to face Cloud.

Cloud was already in guard position, his shirt removed and tossed aside, leaving the boy's chest covered by nothing more than a thin, sleeveless white undershirt. Zack gulped, blinking his eyes to keep from staring, mouth agape, at the sight taunting him like a feast set before a starving man barred from the table. He forced his eyes up to Cloud's face, wondering at the stifled amusement in the blue eyes. Had Cloud seen…? Did he know…? Cursing to himself, Zack bent his knees, one leg poised in front of the other, and held his arms up before him in guard position. "Offense, Strife. Whenever you're ready."

Cloud just nodded, his muscles tensed and ready. Then he launched himself at Zack, driving his right arm forward in a powerful punch.

Zack caught the boy's fist in his right hand and turned, bringing Cloud's arm over and around his head, ending with the boy's hand trapped at the front of Zack's waist, his chest pressed firmly against Zack's back. Zack groaned with more than simple exertion as he drove himself forward, forcing Cloud into a flip over his back to land in front of him, right arm twisted painfully behind his back. Zack smirked to himself in satisfaction at the well-executed move.

Then Cloud propelled his left leg backward, slamming it brutally against Zack's thigh. Grunting as he used the momentum to twist him self into a backward roll and come back gracefully to his feet, Zack grinned in fierce pride. The boy was good. Really good. 

The fight went on for long minutes, Zack testing Cloud's limits, remaining on the defensive as he'd promised and allowing the boy to lead their mock battle. It was an exhilarating, arousing clash of back and forth, attack and counter. The brush of skin against hot, slick skin was tantalizing torture, and within minutes Zack's body was painfully hard. He didn't know how much more of this he could take before he broke down and fucked the boy right there on the practice room floor, with all the recruits staring down at them. Snarling in frustration, Zack slammed an elbow back into Cloud's stomach as the man's arm locked around his neck. It was vicious and rough, and he expected it to knock Cloud off track and leave him bruised and winded, allowing Zack to finish the fight in short order.

But Cloud was too skilled for that. He just moved with the blow, pulling Zack's head down and wrenching his neck to the side as he went backward. In a teeth-grinding, sexually frustrated sort of way, Zack was inordinately proud and impressed. Then he grinned. He knew a way to end this. Twisting in Cloud's grasp, he wrapped his arms about the boy's waist and drove them both to the floor, slamming his body down hard onto Cloud's and pinning him.

Zack groaned and closed his eyes. _Bad move. Bad, bad move,_ he thought as his hips met Cloud's and he felt the hardness between the young man's thighs, the twin to his own. _Not here. Not now, dammit!_ He took a deep breath. _Too young. Way too young._ Regaining some semblance of control, Zack opened his eyes.

And stared down into an endless pool of blue, dark and stormy with aroused hunger. "All right!" he called, scrambling hurriedly to his feet, struggling to remind himself that it was the fight, just the adrenaline rush of the battle that had driven Cloud's body to react to him like that. "Everybody break it off and take a walk to cool off. If you're stiff tomorrow it'll be your own damned fault!" He looked down to where Cloud still lay sprawled on the floor, his thin shirt nearly transparent and plastered to his smoothly sculpted chest. "That includes you, Strife."

Nodding, Cloud rose to his feet and padded off to join the others without a single word or comment.

Zack stared after him, his eyes filled with a desperate longing. ShinRa's teeth, but he loved that boy. And Sephiroth… Zack's jaw tightened. It felt like a betrayal, this love he felt for Cloud. But what was he supposed to do? He couldn't make this go away. Ancients knew he'd tried. Tried to remember that Sephiroth needed a friend, not a drooling stalker, that Cloud was only fifteen, just an untried youth. A recruit who had come to him for training in swordplay, not bed play. But it was damned hard sometimes. Zack snorted. _Literally._

"Strife!" Zack called after he'd dismissed the rest of his trainees. He was dancing on dangerous ground here, but he didn't have much choice in the matter. He snarled silently as Cloud jogged over to him, sodden shirt still clinging teasingly to his skin. 

"Sir?" Cloud asked, eyes wide with earnest curiosity. 

Zack just stared down at the young man in silence until the last cadet had left the room, the door slamming shut behind him. Then he grinned. "Cloud. I've never seen any new recruit hold up that well against any SOLDIER, much less a First Class. You're good. Damn good. I can't imagine the terror you'll be once you get accepted into SOLDIER."

"Thanks, Zack." Cloud smiled, all formality dropped without a second's thought. "So…"

"I'm not putting you back in basics with Marston. You're gonna stay in my group from now on." Zack might have to kill himself from sheer sexual aggravation before the week was out, but the kid was good. And it was his duty to see that Cloud got the training he deserved, no matter his personal feelings on the matter.

Cloud's face lit up. "Really?"

"Really." Zack grinned again. "Now get your scrawny ass up to the General's office and let him know about this."

Zack's eyebrows lifted, startled, as Cloud's face drooped and fell. "He won't be happy," the boy whispered.

"What do you mean?" Zack snorted, "Of course he--"

"No!" Cloud interrupted, shaking his head emphatically. "I...I heard him talking yesterday, and he said..."

"Go on, cadet."

Cloud bit his lip and flushed slightly. "He said he didn't trust your intentions toward me, that you might..."

"Might what?" Zack's were narrow slits of anger and betrayal.

"...take advantage."

Zack's hands clenched into tight fists as rage exploded in his veins, burning and pumping through his blood. That _bastard!_ Zack could never, _would_ never... And to think that Sephiroth would...

Growling, his face red and hot with bitter aggression, Zack stalked from the room, never noticing the satisfied smirk playing across Cloud's face as he walked out the door. 


	3. Chapter 3: Swallow

Win to Lose  
Part Three: Swallow

Rating: PG-13  
Summary: Zack confronts Sephiroth.

Sephiroth stared at the neat stack of papers on his desk, trying to force himself to flip it over to the next page. Paperwork was unappealing enough on a normal day, but today even the thought of it made him want to crush something. It was slow, tedious, and irritating enough to almost make him want to go back to Wutai. Almost. Why didn't he have a secretary to do this for him? _Ah, yes._ There were only a few people of high enough rank to review anything that might end up on his desk, and all of them were too important to ShinRa and to SOLDIER to waste on secretary duty.

So what did that say about _him,_ exactly?

Sephiroth sighed and determinedly flipped to page twenty-two of forty-nine of the report he was currently looking at—an investigation into the military capabilities of an area Southeast of Midgar. _Fascinating stuff._ Two reactors had been damaged by half-hearted terrorist activity in the last three months, and it was being treated as a full-blown crisis. In his opinion, the region had enough military personnel to handle the situation without much, if any, further interference by SOLDIER. They were all like this, reports of minor terrorist activity that could surely be handled without forcing him to choke down page after pointless page of numbers and pretexts. If these lazy, despicable excuses for officers really had needed his help, they wouldn't have had time to put together a fifty page request for it.

Sephiroth snarled and leaned back in his chair, tapping the sharp nails of his right hand rhythmically against his desk. If he had to spend ten more seconds staring at Captain Mulvey's pathetic excuses for his failure to properly defend against attacks that had happened in his territory, he was going to slaughter an entire class of recruits. Preferably incompetent ones. Really, at this point any distraction would be welcome, even if it was Jethry coming to tell him the Fourth Class morons had gotten drunk and vandalized Turk headquarters again. _At least it would give me a chance to leave this godforsaken office. And rip some fools limb from limb._

At that moment the door slammed open against the wall, as if in answer to his thoughts. As the door crashed shut behind him, First Class Soldier and Lieutenant-General Zackary Donovan stormed into the room, his face grimmer and more filled with rage than Sephiroth had ever seen it. He stopped just before Sephiroth's desk, his hands curled into tight fists at his sides, his breathing harsh and ragged, as if he was too incensed to even remember how to speak. Finally, he took a deep, heavy breath and let it out with a low hiss. Then he spoke, his voice low and tight with tension. "You grey-haired, snake-eyed, skinny sack of overrated chocobo dung. You've got that stick shoved so far up your white ass I'm surprised you aren't fellating it! But you'd probably count that as molestation, wouldn't you, you self-righteous, ShinRa-sucking prude of a sexually truncated eunuch?"

Sephiroth blinked. Well, this was more interesting than paperwork, at least. It would seem by the string of insults and the dark glare in his normally bright violet eyes, not to mention the softness of his voice, that Zackary was angry with _him._ The General smiled to himself. He knew for a fact that there was no possible valid reason for Zack to be mad at him. And that meant that he could listen intently to his second-in-command's rash accusations and then cheerfully and justifiably bleed him dry. Zackary was the one always telling him he needed to find some way to relieve his stress, after all, and it always felt good to get his hands on Zack. If he couldn't have what he really wanted, at least he could force the man into a corner, exhausted and dripping with sweat. Possibly even a bit of blood. Sephiroth quirked an eyebrow and leaned forward, making a show of irritatedly setting down his pen and pushing the report to the side as if Zack was an unwelcome interruption. He knew Zack, and that was one of the few things that would inevitably get the man even more irritated than he was already. Sephiroth noted the subtle twitch of one black eyebrow with sardonic amusement. "Lieutenant Donovan."

"General," Zack bit out through clenched teeth.

Sephiroth merely stared up into Zack's roiling amethyst eyes, not bothering to make a verbal reply.

"I've moved Cadet Strife into a more advanced class."

Sephiroth quirked an eyebrow. That was interesting, but not unexpected. Cloud Strife was a small but unusually talented recruit. The best he'd seen since Zack had tried out for SOLDIER, in fact. In any case, Strife's advancement was not in and of itself a viable cause for the murderous rage seething in Zackary's veins. "Oh?"

"Yes," Zack snarled. He moved then, propping his balled fists on the desk and leaning on them, pausing bare inches from Sephiroth's face. "My class."

Sephiroth didn't lean away from his Lieutenant-General. He simply sat there for a moment, wondering what could possibly be the problem. And Zack definitely thought he would have a problem with Cloud's new assignment. His entire bearing left Sephiroth no room to doubt that. Sephiroth leaned forward slightly, meeting Zack's eyes with a cool stare. "And how do you expect me to respond to that, Zackary?"

"You know damn well how I expect you to respond to that," Zack sneered. "General."

Sephiroth choked back an automatic snarl at the sarcasm dripping from Zack's voice. This was _Zack,_ after all. He was irreverent on a regular basis, but it was always good-natured. He wasn't cruel, and he certainly wasn't disrespectful—of Sephiroth's station, yes, but of Sephiroth himself? Never. For him to be acting like this, something had to be seriously wrong. And since Sephiroth hadn't done anything to warrant this kind of a reaction, someone else—someone Zackary trusted—had to have fed him false information. Sephiroth narrowed his eyes. As friendly as he was, Zack didn't trust very many people. And there was only one person whose word might possibly hold as much weight with him as Sephiroth's. "What did Cloud say to you?"

"What do you think he said, Seph? And he didn't even want to tell me. I practically had to force it out of the kid!" Throwing his arms up, Zack spun around, leaning against the desk and crossing his arms over his chest. "Are you jealous?"

Sephiroth blinked. "Why?"

"Look, I'll admit that I want him. Every time I look at him, I get so twisted up inside I don't even know which way's up. But damn it, Sephiroth!" He spun back around and slammed a fist down on Sephiroth's desk, making the pens rattle in their container. "He's just a kid! And how you could even _think_ that I would…much less _tell_ someone...after all we've been through together..." He shook his head. "It hurts, Seph."

Sephiroth swallowed back the rage that threatened to take him over. Zack wanted Cloud? Grudgingly, he had to admit that Zack was right. He was jealous. The thought that Zack had been looking at someone else was completely unacceptable. Zackary Donovan belonged to him. And Cloud…what was his place in this tangled mess? Was he trying to alienate Zack from Sephiroth in order to keep the Lieutenant for himself? Sephiroth growled. Out of the question. If Cloud had designs on anyone, it had better be _him._ And what exactly was Zack accusing him of? Assaulting a minor? A surge of insulted, possessive fury welled up within him. "Who am I, Lieutenant?"

This time it was Zack who blinked. "The General. Sir."

"Yes, Donovan. I'm your General. And, as your General, what do you owe me?"

"My obedience."

Sephiroth waited.

"And my trust. Sir."

Sephiroth stood and walked around the desk to stand behind Zack, his fingers just whispering across the breadth of the shorter man's shoulders. "Zackary Donovan."

Zack swallowed nervously, noting the change from military address to private. "Seph?"

"Who am I?"

"My best friend."

Sephiroth nodded. "Do you trust me?"

"With my life."

"But not with your reputation?"

"No, sir. I mean, yes, sir. I mean…" He sighed. "I don't know what I mean, Seph."

Sephiroth allowed his fingers to explore the exposed skin of Zack's neck, reveling in the shivers that rippled just beneath the surface. "I didn't think you did. Let me speak more plainly. Do you think I would accuse you of raping someone?"

"No!" Zack shook his head emphatically.

Sephiroth leaned in close and dragged the tip of one finger up his Lieutenant's neck and around the edge of his ear, watching with interest the faint blush that rose to color Zackary's cheeks. Was it possible Zack wasn't completely indifferent to him after all? Or was he simply uncomfortable with having "The Great General Sephiroth" practically breathing in his ear? "But you believed Cloud Strife?"

Confused silence.

"How do you feel about Cloud, Zackary?"

"He…I…" Zack swallowed thickly and dropped his eyes to the floor. "I think I'm in love with him."

Sephiroth choked down another snarl. "And what exactly did he tell you?"

Zack licked his lips. "When I told Cloud to report to you that I was moving him into my class, he said you wouldn't like it, that he'd overheard you telling someone you thought he wasn't safe with me. Sexually speaking." Zack paused. Hesitated. "You…didn't say that. Did you?"

Sephiroth didn't bother to answer. "I have a task for you, Zackary."

Snapping to sharp, apologetic attention, Zack faced straight ahead. "Sir?"

Sephiroth's eyes gleamed as he stepped back and gestured for Zack to have a seat at his desk. "Finish my paperwork."

"Hey!" Zack whipped around, arms once more crossed over his chest, this time in mock indignation. The rage had bled out of his eyes, leaving behind confusion, regret, and the barest glimmer of a characteristic sparkle. "I get that I was a jackass, Seph, but…your paperwork? That's just cruel."

Sephiroth smiled and turned to leave. "I know."

"Hey."

Sephiroth paused with his hand on the doorknob. "Yes?"

"Just…don't kill him, Seph." Zack's voice was still soft, but now it was filled with a melancholy gentleness Sephiroth had never heard before.

Sephiroth took a deep breath, swallowing back the desire that coiled through his veins at the dark touch of Zackary's voice. "Be here when I get back, Zack." Then he walked out the door, trusting Zack enough to know that he didn't need to wait for a response.


	4. Chapter 4: Reveal

Win to Lose

Part Four: Reveal

(Zack/Cloud/Sephiroth)

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Sephiroth wants to know what Cloud's up to. Zack does paperwork.

Zack stood leaning against Sephiroth's desk for several long moments after the General left the room without even a backward glance. It was a symbol of trust, he knew, being left alone in Sephiroth's office. Being asked to do Sephiroth's work for him. If Zack fucked up, after all, and made the wrong calls, it was Seph's ass that would be on the line. That trust bit into his skin like a rusted blade. After what he'd just done, for Sephiroth to immediately turn around and extend that level of friendship to him…

Zack sighed and rounded the table to plop down in the General's leather chair. What had he been thinking? Seph _trusted _him, and he'd repaid that trust by flat out accusing the man of spreading rumors that Zack was a pervert, not to be trusted with the training of a young recruit. What in a red-haired Turk's dreams had possessed him to do that? _Wait… Cloud was the one who…_

Zack narrowed his eyes and slumped down in Sephiroth's still-warm chair. Cloud had lied to him. _Cloud _had _lied _to him. "What the hell, Spike?" He grumbled, running a hand through his black hair. What was Cloud trying to do, alienate him from Sephiroth? But that didn't seem right at all. Cloud was his friend; Cloud didn't begrudge him his relationship—so to speak—with Seph. Maybe Cloud had been mistaken, and it hadn't been Sephiroth he'd overheard talking about Zack, but someone else. Zack shook his head. That didn't seem right either. Where the General was concerned, Cloud was…well, obsessive. So he _had_ to have been lying.

Zack growled and grabbed the pen Seph had left lying on the desk. Ruthlessly, he shoved down the hurt and the lingering sense of betrayal that whispered through his gut. He would talk to Spike later, after Sephiroth had run up one side of him and down the other. Zack snorted. Hopefully Seph wouldn't rough the kid up too much. He probably didn't mean any harm. This was _Cloud, _after all. He didn't do anything without a damn good reason. Pulling the sheaf of papers toward him, Zack stared down at page twenty-two of forty-nine of his first report of the evening. Then, in true Sephiroth style, he quirked an eyebrow. Captain Mulvey was a long-winded little bastard, wasn't he?

Scanning the page minutely, he flipped over to number twenty-three, images of Sephiroth—eyes blazing—wrapping his long fingers around Cloud's delicate little neck drifting across his mind. Zack sighed and shook his head. It was going to be a long evening.

-------------

Sephiroth strode down the hall, determination and purpose marking each step he took. He had no clue what he was going to do, but that didn't mean he had to look like it. He had a reputation to uphold, after all. But even if he didn't have much of a plan in mind for when he found Cloud, he _did _know where the boy would be. It was dinner time, and Cloud was nothing if not predictable. He could always be found at 5:30 p.m. in the back corner of the mess hall, having dinner with Zackary if the man was available, or by himself if Zack wasn't free. Sephiroth knew this because he made it a point to keep an eye on the boy. Not because he had taken an _interest _in Cloud, but because Cloud was small and young, a loner by nature, and even if the boy was a phenomenal fighter, he was still just as vulnerable as the next kid his age to any sort of gang situation. He could defend himself against two assailants, certainly, probably even three or four. But five? Seven or eight? Sephiroth shook his head. He wasn't about to lose his prize cadet to the petty jealousy of other recruits.

So Sephiroth watched. Whenever and wherever he could, he watched Cloud. He'd memorized the boy's schedule and studied his rigidly structured routine, and in the process he had learned Cloud's habits and his mannerisms, like the way he danced alone with a SOLDIER-issue sword as a way of relieving tension and stress. Or the way he doused his eggs with ketchup and asked for ice in his cereal. He woke up early every morning to visit the chocobos, and he was the only person outside of SOLDIER with a stomach strong enough to handle the rotgut brew the kitchen staff had the nerve to call coffee. All the SOLDIERs downed it religiously, but it was more like a status symbol than anything else. If you couldn't handle the coffee, you didn't deserve to call yourself a SOLDIER.

Sephiroth prided himself on knowing where Cloud was and what he was doing at any given moment of the day, just to make sure the kid was well-protected, of course. He knew Zack's schedule as well, but he watched over Zack more to ensure the man wasn't doing anything that might get him court-marshaled than anything else. It was different with Cloud. It was…

Sephiroth sighed inwardly. Who was he kidding? He was completely and rapturously obsessed with both of them. Zack was the first person who had ever treated him like a normal human being. It had been strange at first, accustoming himself to Zack's brash, flippant attitude—toward life, the universe, and the General—but he had somehow managed to grow quite attached to the young man. Zack was the first person Sephiroth had come to trust. And Cloud…Sephiroth hadn't known Cloud for very long, but there was something about him that marked him as unique. He was a living mass of paradoxes—innocent and wise, strong and timid, talented and self-effacing. He was endearing. And he was addictive. They both were. So Sephiroth watched them, studying the way they moved, the way the spoke, the way they breathed… He knew them, inside and out. It was the closest he could come to having them for himself.

Yes, he knew them well. That was why he'd left Zackary alone in his office in order to seek out Cloud. Zack was always impulsive; Sephiroth had come to expect him to lash out first and think later. He would be contrite afterward, would work to make it up to Seph. He wouldn't apologize verbally—Sephiroth had no need of such words—instead, he would do something, something Sephiroth never was able to anticipate, in order to atone for his mistake. But Cloud… Sephiroth drew in a deep breath as he turned a corner, drawing closer to the mess hall. This behavior was not at all Cloud's usual style. He didn't get jealous, didn't attempt this sort of gross manipulation. And he certainly didn't lie. So what was going on? What was the reasoning behind this new behavior? Because there _was _reasoning. Of that Sephiroth had no doubt. Cloud wouldn't have risked blowing any chance he might have of making SOLDIER without a reason, and he had definitely risked a lot with his little escapade. Spreading lies about the General? Sowing dissention in the upper echelons of the SOLDIER hierarchy? Sephiroth could have had Cloud stripped of anything and everything he had earned with ShinRa and thrown out onto the streets, if that was what he desired.

Sephiroth, however, didn't want to do that. He wasn't angry with Cloud, not exactly. He was curious, and he was slightly amused that Zack had been so easily taken in by Cloud's scheme. He was jealous of Cloud's influence over Zackary and of Zack's feelings for Cloud. He was impressed by Cloud's audacity. And he was furious with Cloud on Zackary's behalf. Yes, Zackary was a moron, and Sephiroth would feely admit that to anyone who was willing to listen to him. But whatever Zack was, he was also Cloud's friend and superior officer, and those positions demanded respect and honesty. Sephiroth wasn't angry for himself. Whatever Cloud's reasons for the lie may have been, Sephiroth's relationship with Zack had never been in real danger. It was a matter easily cleared up, a matter with no lasting repercussions for anyone but Cloud, which was what confused and intrigued Sephiroth the most. He wanted to know _why _Cloud had done what he'd done.

Rounding a final corner, Sephiroth saw the mess hall looming ahead of him, dark and crowded. He smiled. Almost there now. And given five minutes with Cloud, he would have his answers.

---------------

Zack smiled to himself as he reached the end of page forty-six of Mulvey's request for military aid. He was almost done with this one. His smile faded as he glanced at the seemingly endless stack of thick manila envelopes on the corner of Sephiroth's desk. _Only...nine more to go. Gee. The work just flies by, doesn't it? _Scribbling a few notes in the margin, Zack flipped to the next page.

His eyes widened as the first words on the page registered in his mind. _Something gives me the feeling this doesn't really belong in here..._

Page forty-seven wasn't a part of Captain Mulvey's report. It was a letter. With a proud grin, Zack set his pen to the side and began to read.

_Zack,_

_Sorry about earlier. It nearly killed me to say things like that about General Sephiroth, but I didn't have much choice, believe me. I needed a way to create a diversion. Look, in the bottom right hand drawer of the General's desk you'll find a key card. Don't ask me how I got it. Or how I got it into the General's desk. I need you to meet me in room 819 at 6:00 sharp. I've come across some seriously classified information that can't be written down. I can't go to Sephiroth with it. It'll look too suspicious, and I'm afraid someone suspects I know about the situation, so our rooms are off limits for this discussion. I need you to be there on time, Zack. I have to be in my room before curfew, and I need to be able to trust that you can give the General all the information he needs. _

_And don't worry about Sephiroth. He's going to be gone for the next several hours, so you'll be back in his office in plenty of time to wait for his return. _

_Your friend and student,_

_Cloud Strife_

_P.S. Don't. Be. Late._

Zack frowned and tore the letter loose from the bindings of the lengthy report. What had Cloud found out? It had to be something pretty serious for him to be going to such lengths to protect the information. A small furrow dug a hollow between Zack's eyebrows. And room 819? Something seemed familiar about that number, but he couldn't place it. A conference room, perhaps? Zack shrugged and flipped the report closed.

Then he look up at the clock. 5:45. He'd better leave if he was going to make it on time. Zack grinned as he bent down and reached into the drawer, laughing softly as he sat back up gripping the key card. Shaking his head, he rose to his feet, pleased and impressed with his little Spike's never-ending surprises. Spreading rumors about Sephiroth, sneaking suspicious notes into highly classified military documents, raiding the General's office--maybe Zack wasn't such a good influence on young Cloud. He snorted. Who was he kidding? The kid had obviously been born for espionage. _Well, I'd better not keep the brat waiting. Might be something to all that "don't be late" drivel. _

Shaking his head one more time with proud disbelief, Zack left the room, swiping his own key card in the slot beside the office door to lock it behind him.

--------------

Sephiroth snarled as a dark-haired figure in Soldier garb staggered into him on his way out of the mess hall. Seizing the man's arm, he shoved him backward and stared into a pair of bloodshot, too-dilated brown eyes. Sephiroth cocked an eyebrow. The man was intoxicated. He was a SOLDIER Fourth Class, and he was inside a building used by SOLDIERs and cadets alike, and he was _intoxicated. _Sephiroth fixed his narrowed eyes on the man's face. "Explain yourself, Private."

The man blinked. He looked young, around twenty years or so of age, and his admission into the ranks of SOLDIER marked him as at least semi-intelligent. Or it should have. "General Sh--" He cleared his throat. "Sephirosh."

"Yes. Now explain yourself."

The SOLDIER shook his head. He didn't seem capable of stringing together a coherent sentence. "Dinner, shir. Jush dinner."

"I can see that, Private," Sephiroth practically growled. "What I want to know is _what _you have been drinking--or taking--and _why."_

"Drinking, shir?" The man blinked again. "Jush water." He paused for a long, contemplative moment. "And coffee."

"Then why are you in this predicament?"

"Pre...predic'min, shir?"

Sephiroth sighed. "Never mind. Just get out of my sight and get yourself dried out. When you've sobered up, report to Sergeant Mills. You'll be cleaning the recruits' building for the next week, Private."

The man shook his head in confusion. "Yesh...yesh, shir."

As the young man began his slow stumble down the hall, Sephiroth called after him, "And if you're caught anywhere near Turk Headquarters, I'm signing you over to Reno Sinclaire for at least two weeks!" Sephiroth watched the dark-haired youth for several long seconds, then turned to peer through the cafeteria doorway, a vague sense of forboding thrilling through his veins. Then he spotted Cloud, sitting alone at his characteristic corner table in the very back of the room. Sephiroth frowned. Cloud was just sitting there, his plate of food completely un-eaten, his coffee cold and untouched. What was wrong with the boy?

At that moment, Cloud looked up and spotted Sephiroth leaning against the doorway. He smiled.

And Sephiroth's blood ran cold. That was a smile he'd never seen on Cloud's face before. It was dark and calculating, devious and dangerous. He took a step into the crowded room--why were there so many SOLDIERs dining this early in the evening?--as Cloud stood and made his way toward a side door out of the mess hall. The boy glanced back and met Sephiroth's eyes just before he made it to the door, then he reached out with a pale, strong hand and deliberately _shoved_ the SOLDIER eating at the table beside the door.

The SOLDIER turned around, his bloodshot eyes catching sight of the man behind him--not Cloud--and his muddled brain assembling the information he'd been provided with. He surged from his chair and slammed a coiled fist into the man's nose. The assaulted man lurched forward, tackling his assailant and sending them both crashing into the table vacated by the first SOLDIER. Food flew everywhere, and the chaos became a chain reaction, one event sparking another until the entire mess hall was in an uproar.

As all hell broke loose inside the cafeteria, Sephiroth scanned the crowd for Cloud, though he knew the devilish young man had disappeared the moment his hand had met the SOLDIER's shoulder. A plateful of hot spaghetti made to collide with Sephiroth's leather coat, but he called in his sword and batted the platter to the side. Then he sighed, observing the chaos the once orderly mess hall had become.

As soon as he got this hellhole straightened out, he was going to murder Cloud Strife.


	5. Chapter 5: Ache

Win to Lose  
Part Five: Ache

Rating: PG-13  
Summary: What's behind door 819?

A furrow formed between Zack's eyebrows as he reached the top of a flight of stairs and turned onto a familiar hallway. Eighth floor. Ninth door on the left. Room 819... His eyes flew wide as he suddenly recalled why room number 819 sounded so familiar. It was Sephiroth's suite of rooms. Zack groaned and leaned back against the wall, hugging his chest as he doubled over with silent laughter. Cloud had _balls. _Arranging a clandestine meeting in the General's room, _without _the General? Sephiroth was going to kill them both. But now that he was here, Zack was intensely curious. Idly, he fingered the key card in his pocket. He'd never been in the General's rooms before. He'd been able to coax Sephiroth into _his _rooms a time or two, but the General was obsessively private. He never allowed _anyone_ into his rooms. Zack bit his lip to hold in another burst of laughter--he didn't need any warning from Cloud to know he couldn't be seen doing this. _Yep. Dead. Very, very dead. _

But it would be so worth it. Wiping moisture from his eyes, Zack made his way to the door of room 819 and swiped the card. He held his breath for a second, but no alarms sounded. No blade impaled him or severed a limb or two. Instead, the little light on the key-reader flashed green, and the lock clicked open. Letting out the breath he'd been holding, Zack glanced once about the abandoned hallway and then pushed the door open.

Closing the door behind him, he scanned the darkened room. He didn't flip the overhead light on but instead crossed to a sleek metal lamp perched on a table beside a black leather couch in the center of the room. Zack flipped the switch, bathing the room in soft yellow light. It was empty, and it hardly looked lived-in at all. Black leather couch, flat-screen television, table and lamp--these were the only furniture in the room. There was one doorway and one closed door branching off the living room, to a kitchen and a bedroom presumably. Zack arched an eyebrow. No Cloud. Shrugging, he looked down at his watch. 5:55. _Spiky's not late yet... _

He grinned, his eyes sliding over to the closed door. _Might as well do some exploring while I wait. _He was curious about Sephiroth's bedroom. Zack snorted. _Who wouldn't be? _Cautiously, still expecting the General to appear from behind and eviscerate him, Zack toed his way over to the closed door. He twisted the knob, glad that the metal didn't squeak in protest. Then, pushing the door open, he stepped into the darkness of the room and reached out to feel for a light switch.

His fingers snagged on what felt like a thin line of wire, and Zack pulled against it, struggling to untangle his hand from the grip of the wire. He heard a click from somewhere above his head. Zack went still. _Maybe invading Seph's room isn't such a bright idea. _He started to take a step back, but something soft fell across his face--a cloth?--and he shook his head, lifting his free hand to brush the fabric away. Unconsciously, he took a breath.

And fell away into darkness.

-------------

Smiling to himself, Cloud glanced down at his watch as he was making his escape from the mess hall. Zack should be out for the count by now, so it was time to get upstairs. Stuffing his hands into his pockets, he swung a left at the end of the hall, making for the stairs that led to the officers' rooms on the upper floors.

He didn't run, didn't hurry or even break a nervous sweat. He had plenty of time to do what he needed to do, and, besides, people would only be suspicious if he looked like he was in a rush. Things were going according to plan. _So far. _Cloud smiled softly to himself. He wasn't quite certain Sephiroth would cooperate with the next stage of the operation, but he'd called in the best help he could possibly find outside of Zack. _And Zack's a little preoccupied right now… _So if it was ever going to work, it would be now.

He was definitely going to suffer the General's wrath--that was damn near inevitable at this point--it would at least be well worth it. He felt just the slightest bit of guilt over what he knew was going to happen in the cafeteria in just a few minutes, but he quashed it down. He'd been putting up with Zack and Sephiroth and their miserably self-sacrificing natures for far too long. It was either change the situation himself or go insane at this point. He figured ShinRa wouldn't get much use out of him if he went nuts, so it was probably better this way.

Besides, there wouldn't be any lasting harm. Well, not to anything but Zack's and Sephiroth's pride. And possibly to his accomplice… Cloud shrugged. _It's a noble sacrifice. _One that was necessary for his plan to succeed. He needed enough time to deal with Zack before Sephiroth came back into the picture.

Cloud shook his head and started up the darkened stairs. His life had gotten very complicated lately.

-------------

Sephiroth sighed. It hadn't taken as long as it could have to get the mess sorted out. Just half an hour or so. The cadets were all stone-cold sober, as were the kitchen staff and even a few of the SOLDIERs in the room. With their help, Sephiroth had managed to get the riot subdued and the drunk/high idiots dragged off to the infirmary where they could sober up. It was apparent to him what had happened. A large contingent of SOLDIERs had come to dinner before leaving for an extended scouting mission. And Cloud Strife had put something in the coffee. What it was Sephiroth didn't know, but he doubted it was alcohol. It acted quickly and was effective even in small amounts, which explained why Strife hadn't been drinking his own coffee. Sephiroth ran a hand through his silver hair, shaking it back from his face. He didn't know quite what to do with Cloud. He was torn between a slow death and a quick one.

"Hey, General?"

Shoving down a surge of irrational irritation, Sephiroth turned to see a Turk, Reno Sinclaire, bending over a SOLDIER lying on the floor in a pool of what appeared to be tomato sauce. He blinked. Why was there a Turk in the SOLDIER mess hall? "What are you doing here, Sinclaire?"

"I'm pulling a twenty-four hour shift. Was getting' sleepy, so I decided to stop in for a cup of coffee. Stuff's toxic, but nothing' 'll keep you awake like the tar they brew in here. Good thing I'm wandered by too. You looked for a while like you were gonna blow the whole place to slivers. Anyway, can you help me carry this one? I wouldn't ask, but we appear to be the only ones left in here now."

Sephiroth looked around. Sinclaire was right. The room was deserted except for the downed Third Class, Reno, and himself. Sephiroth narrowed his eyes. He'd dismissed everyone else, but the kitchen staff… The fools. They weren't finished yet. But it occurred to him that cleaning supplies like what they needed in here now weren't stocked in the kitchen, so the staff had probably gone to the maintenance room to get what they needed. Shrugging, Sephiroth strode over to Sinclaire, kneeling down to get a strong grip on the unconscious man's left shoulder. As he leaned toward the Turk, something in the man's expression caught his eye. And he remembered just why it was he'd never trusted Reno.

Sephiroth tried to lean backward, but Reno acted quickly.

"Sorry , General." Reno flashed a half-apologetic smile and slammed his high-voltage electrorod into the General's gut.

The air whooshed out of Sephiroth's lungs, and even as he called his sword back into his grip, he drew in an deep, automatic breath of air.

And Reno sprayed something from an aerosol can into Sephiroth's face.

As the pungent substance clouded the inside of his chest, the room wavered and faded from Sephiroth's view. And he revised his decision to kill Cloud when this mess was sorted out. _I'll make him castrate Sinclaire first. Then I'll kill them both. _

---------------

Reno Sinclaire sighed in relief as General Sephiroth collapsed, unconscious, just like Strife had said he would. He'd known when he agreed to this that he would be taking his life in his hands, but how could he possibly have refused Strife's request? This was the most damnably entertaining thing that had happened in weeks, and Reno would _never_ get the chance to do anything like it again, that was for sure.

Well, not and have any chance of surviving, that was.

Standing up and moving around to take hold of Sephiroth's collar, Reno grinned and shook his head. _Strife's got balls. I never would'a guessed the kid had it in him_… Taking a firm grip on the smooth leather of Sephiroth's jacket, he pulled, leaving the unconscious SOLDIER on the ground and dragging the General toward the side door. Toward the stairs.


	6. Chapter 6: Pressure

Win to Lose  
Part Six: Pressure

Rating: R  
Summary: The truth comes out. In more ways than one.  
Disclaimer: Cloud says they belong to him, and, really, who am I to argue?  
Author's Note: This story is a definitive answer to a question I've been asking myself for a while now. But now I know. I am physically incapable of writing fluff. I am fluff-deficient. Everything I touch turns to dark, and I'm not talking about D.N. Angel… Do they have support groups for things like that?

Zack drew in a deep, cleansing breath as awareness began to reclaim him. He could feel the fog of unconsciousness still pressing in around him, but as the moments passed, it burned away into the edges of his mind. He didn't open his eyes. Instead, he focused on his senses, trying to decipher his surroundings. He was sitting up, his back resting against what felt like intricately twisted iron bars and his legs pressing down into something soft and slick. _Silk? _He could feel cool air playing over his skin, and his arms were stretched over his head. Zack pulled experimentally.

His eyes snapped open. His hands were tied together above his head, with what felt like a steel mesh cord. And it wasn't just tied around his wrists, it was wound between them, preventing him from slipping his hands free. Zack strained to look up. It _was _a steel mesh cord, and he _was _sitting against a surface of twisted iron bars. _Huh. A headboard… Does that mean… _Zack's eyes widened. He looked down. He was naked, with nothing but a grey silk sheet covering him from the hips down. He closed his eyes and swallowed. Hard. _Naked. Naked in Sephiroth's bed… _It was like every fantasy about the General he'd ever had, but… _Wait… Sephiroth's got silk sheets? Huh. __Never would'a guessed. _Zack shook his head. This was dangerous. Very, very dangerous. Because Sephiroth hadn't been the one who'd proposed to meet him here, which meant… "Spike! Where the hell are you, Cloud? You've got one _twisted _sense of humor, you know that? And what did you give me, for fuck's sake?!"

Zack cocked his head to the side. _Are those…yes, they are!_ Footsteps. He listened for a moment. _Not Seph's steps. Too small, too hurried. _Cloud, then. Zack snarled. _I hope. _The footsteps drew closer.

Holding his breath, Zack looked up at the open doorway.

Cloud smiled as he leaned against the doorframe, staring at Zack in his position in the middle of Sephiroth's bed. He'd come to the crucial, most dangerous stage of the game now. _Well, except Reno's part, maybe. I don't think there's much I can do to save him once the General gets a hold of him… _But as for him, his plan might fail or succeed as it would, but if he was going to die, it would likely happen in the next fifteen minutes. For the moment, though, Sephiroth was safely asleep on the couch, so it was time to get things moving.

Cloud's skin paled slightly as he thought about what he was about to do. But he took a deep breath and fingered the small vial of oil he carried in his pocket, remembering the grins on the faces of Reno and Rufus ShinRa when he'd answered their knock on the door. He winced as he recalled the bruise rising on Sephiroth's cheek, but really…the General _was _heavy. He would have been surprised if they hadn't dropped him at least once on the way upstairs. In any case, Rufus and Reno were counting on him. For them… In order to honor their sacrifice, he couldn't back out now. Cloud smiled. "Zack. I'm glad to see you're awake so soon."

Zack growled. "What's the deal, Spike? You never struck me as the kinky type. Besides, I thought you had something important to talk to me about."

"Oh, I do. There's something I need you to tell the General for me."

"Why?" Zack muttered sulkily. "It's obviously not some top secret, highly classified scandal like you said in your note."

"How do you know? Besides, you _have _to tell him. He'll never believe it, coming from me."

Zack raised an eyebrow and shook his wrists, the mesh cord making a scraping sound as it slid along the wrought iron headboard. "Are you planning to _make_ a scandal, Spike?"

Cloud shrugged. "I was planning to let you go."

Zack looked skeptical. "That doesn't really explain why I'm naked and chained to the General's bed in the first place."

Cloud smiled, a sly, devious smile. It was time. He stepped into the room. "Then why don't I show you?"

Zack's eyes widened at the dark mischief in Cloud's eyes. "Um…Spike?"

But Cloud didn't answer. He just kept moving into the room. Practically leaping up onto the bed, he moved until he was straddling Zack's hips, nothing between them but his own pants and the thin silk of Sephiroth's sheets. Nervous—though he didn't dare show it—Cloud shifted, grinding himself down against Zack, smiling as Zack's body began to respond. He looked at Zack's face, shook his head at the tightly closed eyes and the clenched jaw. "You're such an idiot, Zack. I may be a virgin, but I'm old enough to know what I want." He sighed and slid his hands through Zack's hair and down to the strong line of his jaw. Slowly, he tilted Zack's face up toward him. "Look at me, Zackary Donovan."

Zack opened his eyes, stormy violet almost black with desire and uncertainty.

Cloud shook his head. "The lengths I have to go through to make sure you won't run away from me. Look, Zack. Like I said, I know what I want. And it's you."

Zack's breath hitched in his throat, his hands struggling to shatter their bonds so they could lock around Cloud's shoulders. "Cloud…"

Cloud shook his head and leaned back, meeting Zack's eyes as he slowly, nervously drew down the zipper of his sweater, shrugging the knit material off his shoulders and tossing it to the floor. Then he moved in, meeting Zack's lips in a soft, slow kiss. His first. His hands slid to Zack's shoulders, tracing the outlines of muscle and bone, drifting down to dance across the breadth of his chest. But when Zack tried to deepen the kiss, he pulled back and shook his head. "I need you to answer some questions for me, Zack."

Zack's eyes were dark and clouded. "Huh?"

"Tell me the truth, Zack. What do you feel for me?"

Zack licked his lips. "I…I'm in love with you, Spike. Shiva damn me to hell, but I'm in love with you."

Cloud nodded and kissed Zack again. This kiss was deeper, sharper, than the first one. Lips clung to lips and tongues slashed at one another as Cloud's body responded to the heat of Zack's arousal. He flushed as warmth flooded his hips, as his own body hardened against Zack. Breathing hard, Cloud pulled back, staring into the comforting familiarity of Zack's face. He licked his lips, knowing that he'd won. "And the General?"

------------------------

Sephiroth woke to the sound of voices in the next room. He knew immediately where he was—how could he not recognize his own apartment, after all? What he couldn't reconcile was how he'd gotten here. His eyes narrowed. _Reno. _Reno Sinclaire would die a very slow, very painful death. _But first… _

"You can't ask me that." The voice was low and far away, almost muffled, but Sephiroth didn't have any trouble recognizing it.

Zack's voice. Sephiroth quirked an eyebrow. Why was Zack in his bedroom? Surely he wasn't involved in this…whatever this was. He didn't know what was going on, exactly, but he _did _know that Cloud Strife was responsible for it. Sephiroth sighed. In the long run, it didn't matter whether Zackary was involved or not. Either way, it was surely due to _his _influence that Cloud—shy, quiet Cloud Strife—had become so…devious. What _had _gotten into Cloud lately? And that stunt in the mess hall? What had been the point? Had it been a diversion? A way to get him back here and keep him out of the game for a while?

"No. Stop it, Spike!"

_Spike? So Strife's in there with Zackary. _Sephiroth didn't know quite what to think about that. He'd never allowed anyone into his apartment before, and now the two men he cared about most—the only two people he really cared about at all, actually—were alone together in his bedroom. Without him. And Zack did _not _sound happy about something.

There was a low murmur, a rustling of fabric. Then…

"Don't do this, Cloud. Don't make me…"

Sephiroth rose slowly to his feet, his slitted pupils narrowing in feral anger. Cold, unthinking rage flooded his veins. No one, _no one _had the right to force Zack into doing something he didn't want to do. All of Cloud's actions were suddenly suspect, the threatening moves of someone who intended to hurt, to _take, _and not the innocent games of a fifteen year-old cadet playing tricks on his commanding officers, as Zack had done when he'd first come to join SOLDIER. Sephiroth called in his sword.

"Damn it!" A hiss, a choked sound. "I'm in love with Sephiroth, Cloud! I have been for years. Now…please…"

Sephiroth almost dropped Masamune to the ground. He'd wondered, earlier, whether Zackary might not be completely indifferent to him, but…he'd never imagined that the man might… Sephiroth growled and stalked silently to the door of the bedroom. He paused in the doorway, observing Zack's writhing, sweating form, chained to the bed with metal cord too strong for even a First Class to break and struggling to break free. He saw Cloud, naked and pinning Zack to the bed, smiling and laughing in triumph. And he came to the only conclusion available to him. Snarling, he seized Cloud by the neck and threw him against the wall, spinning to place the tip of his sword against the boy's neck. "I'm disappointed in you, Cloud."


	7. Chapter 7: Cradle

Win to Lose  
Part Seven: Cradle

Summary: Sephiroth gets angry.  
Author's Note: For more information on Zack and Sephiroth at the ages of 14 and 19, respectively, check out Never Lost by Phoenix Dayze, posted here under that name. It's _hilarious, _I promise. We also have some co-authored fics posted on under her name, if you like my stuff and want more to read.

Cloud winced as he was slammed against the wall, sliding down to the base and hanging his head low. _Too soon. _Sephiroth wasn't supposed to be awake yet. He must have miscalculated somehow! Closing his eyes, Cloud sighed. It didn't matter; he'd known that this was a distinct possibility from the beginning, and it was a chance he'd been all too willing to take. Now…he was lying on the ground with the Masamune drawing a thin line of blood along his throat, and it seemed like death might be a definite possibility. The game was over.

Sephiroth had ended it, and the General was perfectly justified in claiming retribution for Cloud's impudence. He'd known Zack since the age of nineteen, when Zack had been just a scrawny fourteen year-old recruit. They had been friends for a long time, and they had a lot of history together. And Sephiroth had _claimed _Zack. Not outright, and Zack certainly didn't know he'd been claimed, but Cloud had seen it. And he'd known. Zackary Donovan belonged to General Sephiroth.

But Cloud had danced in anyway and _taken _Zack from Sephiroth. He'd conspired to keep the General distracted by sabotage; he'd drugged him, and he'd had him physically harmed. He had even gone so far as to display his power over the great Zackary Donovan in the General's own apartment. In the General's bed. Or at least that's what everything would have looked like to Sephiroth.

Cloud looked up and followed the long blade of the sword until he met the General's poisonously angry eyes. He would deserve all the torture Sephiroth could possibly inflict upon him. _I was so close…just a few more minutes and everything would have ended like I'd planned…_ But that didn't matter now. He'd been caught, and caught fairly. He'd won, in a way. The aim had been to get an admission, to force truth into the open air and break down the barriers that separated the three of them. And he'd gotten his admissions. But he was losing Zack and the General both, and probably his chance of making SOLDIER as well, if not his life. Cloud licked his lips. "Disappointed, General Sephiroth?"

Sephiroth snarled. "Yes. I thought you showed promise, Strife. But now it seems that your ambitions outstrip your abilities, after all."

"Yes, sir." Cloud swallowed, feeling the sting as the blade dug a bit deeper into his flesh. "At least…I might have made some slight miscalculations."

"Slight…"

But there was an interruption, a stirring from the bed behind Sephiroth as Zack twisted around to look at them, his arms still held suspended above his head. "Seph…"

"Don't worry, Zackary." Sephiroth cut him off, not even taking his eyes off of Cloud for the moment he would have needed to glance behind him at Zack. "I'm taking care of it." He stared down at Cloud, his green eyes cold and hard. "I understand wanting power. I know plenty of grasping men who crave it. And I can see the rush a recruit might get from exerting control over a superior officer. I can even see why you would choose to do what you did—why here, why these circumstances—the ultimate the thrill and the ultimate insult all at once. The only thing I don't understand, Strife, is how you managed it. Zackary is an immensely powerful man. He is strong, intelligent, talented, and not easily threatened. So just what is it you have, Cloud? What gives a cadet enough power to assault and _control_ a First Class SOLDIER?"

"Seph, no! That wasn't—" But Zack's protest was silenced as Sephiroth moved back just a step and clamped a leather-clad hand over his mouth, too angry, too hurt by Cloud's seeming betrayal to register Zack's interruptions as anything more than soft-hearted objections to the physical harm of a boy as young and small as Cloud.

Cloud's mouth opened, but no sound came out as he realized just what it was Sephiroth thought had been happening. _He thought…rape? But I couldn't…would _never_… Oh, shit… _And he babbled out the only coherent scrap of thought that he could hold onto. "But…I love him…"

And Sephiroth jerked as if he'd been struck a physical blow. His eyes burned—everything burned—and he pulled back, readying himself for a killing strike. "You love him, and that didn't stop you from trying to take what was only his to give?" He pulled back his lip in a disgusted grimace. "You love him. Well, Cloud, let me say that I, too, love Zackary, as I love you. And even as you did not allow love to stand in the way of your desire, I will not allow love to prevent me from carrying out my duty to protect the men in my charge." And, locking his aim on Cloud's exposed, vulnerable throat, he began to move.

-------------------

Zack strained to snap the steel cord constricting his wrists as he'd been struggling to do since Sephiroth had first entered the room. He thrashed his head in a vain attempt to break the General's grip on his jaw. He _knew_ Sephiroth, and Seph could be…territorial. Overprotective. Zack knew what it must have looked like—not to mention sounded like—to the General, from where he'd been standing, and, if Zack was certain of anything in the this world, it was that Sephiroth cared for him. Deeply. He was the only thing the General had, the first person who'd ever bothered to become his friend.

And, by the look of it, Seph had been on edge lately, apparently as twisted up and conflicted inside as Zack himself had been. In love with Zack—Zack was a bit too preoccupied to really absorb that for the moment—and in love with Cloud, unable to reconcile one with the other, unable to approach either of them, Sephiroth must have been in agony. And now this…to come home and find the objects of his affection naked in his bed, to see one of his loves apparently tormenting the other…Zack shook his head and strained harder against the steel cord. It was no wonder Seph had reacted as he had.

At that moment, Sephiroth lunged for Cloud's throat, and Zack forgot how to breathe. He had to move, had to break free of Spike's damnable bonds before it was too late. With a scream borne of fear and denial and a surge of strength borne of desperation, Zack shattered the cord. His mind briefly registered the ripping of skin and the loud snap of breaking bone as he threw himself to his feet, but he ignored the pain and flung his benumbed arms around the General's shoulders, forcing his left hand to close around Sephiroth's on the hilt of the katana and pulling back hard, keeping the blade from reaching its mark. "It wasn't rape, Seph. I'm fine. Cloud didn't do anything."

Sephiroth looked back over his shoulder at Zack. "But you said…"

Zack nodded. "I did. And I meant it, Seph. I _am_ in love with you. But I also love him, just like you. I…I'm not quite sure _what_ was going on when you came in, but it wasn't what you think it was." Zack almost growled in frustration at the feral, almost unthinking rage that still simmered behind his General's eyes. "Come on, Seph. Come back to me. You don't want to hurt him. You're in love with the little bastard too, remember? Why don't we find another way to pay him back for his little games?"

Sephiroth took a deep breath and nearly choked as awareness flooded his senses. _Games. _They were just games…the innocent love games of a fifteen year-old boy. No rape, no betrayal, no intention to harm or control. Just games. And he'd almost… Slowly, deliberately, Sephiroth allowed his sword to fade away. He didn't need it now, not here.

Shrugging Zack's arms off his shoulders, he moved to kneel before Cloud, reaching out to cup the boy's face gently in his hands. He stared into Cloud's liquid blue eyes, wondering how he could ever even begin to atone for what he'd almost done. "Cloud…"

But Cloud just shook his head and launched himself forward into the General's arms. He buried his face in Sephiroth's neck for a moment, reveling in the sheer relief of finally getting to _touch_ the man. His heart was still pounding, but even now the fear was bleeding away. He wasn't going to die. The General wasn't going to kill him, and Sephiroth had said… Cloud looked up sharply. Then, as Sephiroth's arms folded themselves uncertainly around his bare shoulders, he pressed a kiss just beneath the man's ear. He grinned. "I love you too."

Zack snorted as he dropped down to sit beside them on the floor. "Yeah, yeah. What a touching little reconciliation you two have going on here. But uh…Seph…I don't suppose you can do something about my hands?"

Sephiroth and Cloud both blinked and swiveled their heads around to look at him. They winced in unison. Zack's wrists were cut and bleeding, the blood seeping from the deep lacerations caused by the shredding metal mesh to flow in lines down his forearms, and it was smeared in red streaks across his palms. His right wrist was broken, dark and swollen where Zack held it, cradled carefully in his lap.

Zack shrugged. "No big deal, really. But, damn, Spike. You must have spent a lot of time looking for rope a SOLDIER couldn't break through. That shit was tough."

Cloud blushed and bit his lips. "I'm—"

But Zack shook his head, in lieu of waving him off. "No apologies, Spike. All's well, right? Or it will be if you'll go grab Seph's Restore materia for me."

Cloud looked up at Sephiroth from his position almost—but not quite—in the General's lap.

Sephiroth nodded. "It's in a safe in my closet. The combination is 17-22-15."

Zack snorted again as Cloud shot off toward the closet. "If you'd shared that little tidbit of information with me, this whole mess might have gotten straightened out a lot sooner. Without all the bloodshed even."

Sephiroth glared at him. "Zackary…"

"No, don't worry about it. I think it's cute, Seph, using our ages as a locker combination? It's so…middle school of you."

"Are you trying to tempt me into breaking your other wrist for you?"

"I don't know," Zack grinned. "That depends on whether you'd still love a man with two useless arms."

Luckily, Cloud returned then, saving Sephiroth from having to respond as he sat down, leaning close to Zack's side and holding the green materia out to Sephiroth.

Sephiroth took the small, glowing globe and focused his attention. Closing his eyes and wrapping his fingers carefully around the broken wrist Zack held out to him, he cast the strongest healing spell he knew, concentrating most of the energy on that particular limb and allowing the rest to trickle away into Zack's body, where it would close the scratches on Zack's other wrist. Finally, when he felt the bones set and begin to knit, he leaned back and opened his eyes, releasing Zack's arm almost reluctantly.

Zack flexed his wrist experimentally. "Huh. Still a bit sore, and I don't think I'll be handling a sword for a few days, but I'm not gonna need a cast or anything, thank Shiva." He grinned again. "Thanks, Seph."

Sephiroth shrugged and then straightened his shoulders determinedly. "It was better than listening to you whine."

Zack shifted. Sephiroth was starting to get that distant tone he got when he was unhappy. Likely, he was thinking he was dangerous, inhuman, and undeserving of Zack, Cloud, and the chocobos quartered in the stables. And, that being the case, he would shortly become cold and aloof, kicking Zack and Cloud out of his apartment and simultaneously consoling and tormenting himself with the thought that they would undoubtedly take comfort in one another. Zack slid a sidelong glance over to Cloud, who met his eyes and nodded slightly.

They pounced.


	8. Chapter 8: Skin

Win to Lose  
Part Eight: Skin

Rating: NC-17  
Summary: Zack and Cloud get down to business.  
Author's Note: sigh It's nice when a story finally gets where it's supposed to go, three chapters AFTER it was supposed to have gotten there! And phew this is the first threesome fic/lemon I've ever written, and DAMN but it's hard work keeping track of three characters, all of whom are bloody males!

Sephiroth didn't have time to think, much less to react. He was knocked over backward, driven to the ground by two charging masses of male. Very _naked _male, as Sephiroth only just now fully realized. Cloud and Zack pushed him down, each of them pinning one of his arms over his head as they both leaned in to kiss him, two pairs of warm, questing lips pressing insistently against his mouth until even he had to give in. He parted his lips, shivering as two hot, slick tongues moved against his. There was no fighting, no grappling for dominance—curiously, even he felt neither the need nor the desire to dominate either of his partners—there was only tasting, only eagerness and heated exploration.

It was hot, this three-way kiss. Their faces pressed close against his, their ragged breaths blowing against his skin. Sephiroth had never felt anything like it, and he shifted, easily breaking their hold on his arms and pulling the two men tight up against him. He could feel them trembling against his body, could feel the nervousness thrumming in Cloud's blood, the passion thrilling through Zackary's veins, and he wondered dimly why he hadn't given in to his body's wishes long before. He could feel their arousal, their need, their desire for _him, _and he could feel the physical proof of that desire even through the supple leather of his clothing. Cloud Strife and Zackary Donovan _wanted _him. They wanted _him, _and they didn't care what he was or what he'd been raised to be. He knew now, could feel that, in their minds, he belonged with them. It was intoxicating, and Sephiroth was suddenly gripped by a need to have their flesh pressed against his—with no constraints of fabric separating him from his…lovers—so strong that he broke the kiss, shoving both Zack and Cloud away from him and pulling himself into a sitting position.

"Seph?" Zack asked, confusion slipping in amid the fog of need and hunger that clouded his mind.

Sephiroth shook his head, not quite able to put what he needed into words. This…this kiss was the absolute closest he'd ever gotten to another person, and the connection he now felt to Cloud and Zack was like nothing he'd ever known. But still…this was one area of life in which he had absolutely no experience. He didn't have quite enough ground to stand on, but he knew one thing. He wanted more. Sephiroth licked his lips, a slight blush rising to color his neck and cheeks as he took in the sharp, almost feral look in Cloud's eyes. "I…I need…"

Cloud smiled and crept forward, and, taking one of Sephiroth's hands in his smaller ones, he slowly peeled off the General's black leather glove. His wide blue eyes locked on Sephiroth's slightly glazed green ones, he lifted that hand to his mouth, closing his lips around one long finger and slid his tongue along the entire length of it, suckling suggestively. Finally, reluctantly, he released. "Let us take care of you, General."

Sephiroth shook his head again, his breath hitching slightly at the alluring throb in Cloud's voice. "Call me by my name or call me not at all, Cloud. I'm no General inside this room, especially not with the two of you. I'm just a man."

Nodding, Cloud moved in closer, nuzzling against Sephiroth's neck, kissing and licking the pale skin he found there. "Then let us take care of you…Seph."

Sephiroth opened eyes that had slid closed in pleasure to see Zack standing over him, holding out a hand to help him to his feet. He almost glared and snapped out a quick dismissal. He didn't need help to stand, after all. But he stopped himself. He didn't need the help, no, but Zack's offer was neither a veiled insult nor a challenge. Slowly, Sephiroth extended his hand and allowed Zack to close strong, sword-calloused fingers around his and pull him to his feet. Reaching around, Sephiroth seized Cloud's hand and pulled the boy up with him.

Zack grinned, reaching forward and snapping open the single buckle that held Sephiroth's coat closed. "Yeah, Seph. Let us take care of you. You deserve some special treatment, after all." He paused to run an appreciative hand over the smooth, taut muscles of the General's chest. He flicked his violet eyes back to Sephiroth. "Besides, it's nice to know there's something I know more about than you do."

Cloud threw his hands up at the pointed glare Sephiroth threw Zack's way. "Speak for yourself, Zack. I've certainly never done a damn thing like this before. We aren't all as easy as you are."

Sephiroth growled and shoved Zack back against the wall, the nails of his ungloved right hand digging painfully into Zack's shoulders. "No one else. There will never be anyone else again, Zackary. You are mine."

Cloud coughed from behind them.

Quirking an eyebrow in sardonic amusement, Sephiroth nodded slightly. "And his. But no one else is to touch you, not ever again. Understand?"

Zack swallowed thickly. "I'm yours, Seph, and Cloud's. I wouldn't have it any other way." He grinned, his eyes glowing with impish humor. "Besides, I get the feeling that, with the two of you around, I won't have _time_ for anyone else!"

He pushed Sephiroth back then, edging him toward the bed, and Sephiroth barely had time to notice the dried blood still clinging to both of Zack's arms as Cloud stripped his coat off from behind and Zack released the clasps of the straps that crossed over his chest before sliding his hands down to untie the laces that held his pants closed.

As he slid the material down Sephiroth's legs and the General stepped out of them, leaving his skin completely bare, Zack cocked an eyebrow. "Commando, Seph?"

Sephiroth would have growled, but Cloud's hands were whispering over his shoulder blades, leaving shivering tingles of sensation in their wake as warm lips were pressed against the nape of his neck. He sighed instead, and pulled Zack flush against his, claiming the younger man's lips in a brutal kiss, an untamed clash of tongues and teeth. His arms wound around Zack's shoulders as Cloud's hand settled on his hips, the boy kissing and licking a meandering trail across the breadth of Sephiroth's elegant, tightly muscled back.

They moved together, a three-linked chain of sensual pleasure. Tasting, touching, caressing…they explored one another, taking the time to do now what each of them had been longing to do for months. Years. Lifetimes. Sephiroth wasn't quite sure when it was they tumbled onto the bed, but the cool sweep of the silk was a subtle complement to the hot slide of skin against skin, lips against lips, tongues against tongues, as their bodies slipped and whispered against one another.

He hissed as Zack's mouth closed over his arousal, sucking testingly, the smooth muscle of his tongue soothing and electrifying all at once. Sephiroth tightened his grip on Cloud's shoulders, pulling the boy half atop him in his efforts to get closer, to taste him fully. He couldn't get enough, and he trailed one long-fingered hand down Cloud's side, tracing the still-developing muscles of his torso before sliding in along his hipbone and closing around the hard length of his sex.

Cloud gasped into Sephiroth's mouth and bucked into his touch. That hand…it felt like he was encased in a wreath of flame. Hot and suffocating, desperate and unstoppable. It might have been death, and Cloud would have pursued it willingly. He whimpered and arched into the General's hand, struggling for more, for _closer. _

Sephiroth's eyes slithered shut, and he moved his hand, long, slow strokes in time with Zack's movement the General's own sex. Zack's fingers were digging into his hips, holding him in place, and Cloud's breath was hot against his cheek as the boy shuddered against him, one hand clutching at Sephiroth's shoulder, the other pressed beneath his body as he lay across Sephiroth's chest. They stayed liked this for a time, their only sounds the sharp shivers of Sephiroth's breath and the low whimpers slipping from between Cloud's lips as they all moved together.

But then Cloud cried out and pulled away from Sephiroth's strong, sure hand, sweat trickling down the back of his neck, his eyes wide and wild. "I need…I need…"

Zack pulled away then, with one last sucking lick to Sephiroth's length, and crawled up the General's body to press a gentle kiss to the older man's lips. He pulled Cloud up against him and kissed him too. "We need lube."

Sephiroth's silver eyebrows dipped into a deep furrow as he considered the statement, mentally sifting through the contents of his apartment for something suitable.

But Cloud blushed. "I brought some oil…"

Sephiroth cast him a sharp look. "Oh?"

Shrugging, Cloud grinned. "Well, this _was_ the point of the game."

Zack laughed and ruffled Cloud's hair. "I guess you won, after all, Spike. Even if things didn't go _quite_ as you might have planned them." He ran a thumb over the long, shallow slice across the side of Cloud's neck.

This time it was Sephiroth who blushed. But Cloud only shrugged again and extricated himself from his lovers' tight embrace. Bouncing over to the edge of the bed, he felt around on the floor for his pants and pulled the tiny bottle from a pocket. Turning back, he tossed the vial to Zack and smiled. "Can't have everything my way though, can I?"

"Nope," Zack muttered as he popped the cap off the vial and poured a generous amount into the palm of his hand. "But Sephiroth can." He shoved Cloud back down to the mattress and then dropped down beside him, blinking expectantly at Sephiroth. "Top, bottom, or middle, Seph?"

Sephiroth considered it seriously for a moment, not quite sure at first what Zack was asking and then what he wanted to do. Reaching a decision, he grabbed the oil from Zack and poured some into his own palm before replacing the cap and tossing the bottle to the side. He moved over to Cloud, sliding his hand up one well-muscled thigh and urging it up and to the side. Licking his lips as he slid one oil-slicked finger down to Cloud's tight, untried entrance, he murmured, "Middle."

Zack grinned and shook his head, surprised again by Sephiroth's choice. "First the sheets, then the underwear, and now this…I wouldn't have guessed you were such a hedonist, Seph."

Sephiroth hissed as Zack's fingers breached him, an invasion that ripped at every ounce of dignity, privacy, and independence he possessed. He wanted to lash out, to shove Zack away from him, but this was _Zackary, _and this was what he had asked for. What he wanted. So Sephiroth gritted his teeth and concentrated on the tight heat of Cloud's body as it clenched around his exploring fingers.

Cloud moaned and thrust up against Sephiroth. It felt…dark and sensual, having the General this close to him, reaching inside of him. It was too much and not enough. He bit his lip and whimpered, his glazed eyes begging for something, for _anything_ that would grant him release.

Sephiroth moved then, slipping his hands beneath Cloud's thighs and pushing them upward, spreading them farther apart as he slid up the length of the boy's body. Pausing as their hips melted together, he met Cloud's eyes, waiting silently for Cloud's affirmation, almost afraid even now that the boy would back out, would not want what Sephiroth was offering. But Cloud only nodded, and Sephiroth sighed in relief and pressed close, sliding into the impossibly tight heat of his young lover's body. He closed his eyes and shuddered at the sensation.

Cloud cried out, tears leaking from the corners of his eyes at the simultaneous shattering of pain and relief, pleasure and possession. He wrapped his arms around Sephiroth's shoulders and buried his face in the older man's neck, waiting with bated breath while his body adjusted to Sephiroth's intrusion.

Sephiroth clenched his teeth, his eyes sliding shut as he rested, fully seated within Cloud's body. A slight moan escaped him, slipping out past his careful control as Zack entered him, driving into his body in one quick, smooth stroke. It was…enthralling. Addictive, this sensation of filling, of being filled. They were connected, one to another, three spirits twisted together, tethered to one another by pleasure and pain, desire and need. Taking a deep breath, Sephiroth moved.

They found a rhythm together, the three of them moving as one as they almost drowned in unimagined sensation. Cloud's needy whimpers, Sephiroth's low, hitching moans, Zack's breathy grunts—these were sounds that pierced the still, expectant air of the room. They drove one another higher as skin melded against skin, hands gripped and pulled, hair brushed against flesh, and Cloud's teeth bit sharply into the muscles of Sephiroth's neck.

Cloud couldn't think, couldn't speak. He could only drown in sensation. This was better than he could ever have imagined, and he smiled to himself, knowing he'd made the correct choice. This had _definitely_ been worth the risks he'd taken to get it. Besides, it was right. They belonged together, belonged _to_ one another. He arched up into Sephiroth's thrusts, biting down on his now bruised bottom lip as his arousal rose and spiked within him as Sephiroth's strong hand closed around his aching sex. His nails bit into Sephiroth's shoulder blades and he cried out as release slammed into him with shuddering, nearly blinding force.

Sephiroth gasped as Cloud's muscles clenched around him and a hot fluid shot across his stomach. He thrust into Cloud again, harder and more desperately as his relief hovered just beyond his reach. Just then Zack drove hard against him, brushing a spot within his body that scattered stars across his mind. Sephiroth shivered as he slipped over the edge into a well of pleasure he'd never imagined existed, taking Zack with him for the fall.

They lay together, a twisted mass of heated, oversensitive skin and trembling limbs. It was impossible to think, almost impossible to even breathe. But finally Sephiroth shifted, pulling away from Zack and disengaging from Cloud's small, slender body. He rolled onto his side, pulling both men against him and allowing them to rest their heads against his shoulders. It felt…nice. Close. He shook his head. He'd never have thought he would have wanted this…closeness.

Opening a relaxed, bleary eye, Zack saw the _thinking _look on Sephiroth's face. Yawning, he reached up and smacked him across the cheek. The bruised one. "No thinking. Time to sleep."

Sephiroth tried to glare, but before he could form a response, Cloud nodded and nuzzled up against his side, throwing one leg over Sephiroth's hips. "Sleepy time." Defeated, Sephiroth sighed and closed his eyes. But he smiled slightly, just a small lift at the corners of his mouth. Maybe he didn't have to think, after all.


	9. Chapter 9: Knowing

Win to Lose  
Part Nine: Knowing

Rating: NC-17  
Summary: A bit of inquisition.

Sephiroth drummed the fingers of his left hand impatiently against the tough muscle of Zack's arm. It was four in the morning and he was awake, as per his usual custom. Not so usually, however, he couldn't get up because there were two obstacles, two living, breathing obstacles, weighing him down.

Not that he was complaining. He'd been wishing for months that he was the sort of monster who could have countenanced _ordering_ Strife and Donovan into his bed. At least then he would have had a pale shadow of what it was he really wanted. But there it was. He _wasn't_ a monster, at least not that kind of monster, and so he'd remained alone. Until last night. But now… Sephiroth sighed. He needed a shower. And he had work to do. Glancing down at the young men curled up against his sides, he made a choice.

He shoved Zack roughly away from him.

Zack, however, just muttered irritably in his sleep and rolled back over, curling into Sephiroth's side and throwing a leg and an arm across the General's body.

Sephiroth sighed again and decided that Zackary was a lost cause. So he ran a hand through Cloud's hair and pressed a firm but gentle kiss to the boy's slightly parted lips. "Cloud."

"Hmm?" Cloud murmured, his eyes fluttering slowly open.

"Shower with me?" Sephiroth kept his tone light and low, not allowing any of his thoughts to become apparent in his voice. He had a plan for Cloud, and he wanted answers—and retribution—for all the stunts the boy had pulled the day before, even if the results _had_ been…well, favorable to say the least. But not just now. His plan required a certain amount of setup, and now was a good a time as any to begin. Work could wait, just this once.

Smiling, Cloud nodded and pulled away, rolling gracefully from the bed and strolling—quite unashamed of his nakedness—out of the room. Presumably toward the bathroom.

Sephiroth shook his head and smiled ruefully down at Zack's still-sleeping form, wondering whether he should try, again, to wake his _other_ lover. Zack never had been much of a morning person. Still, Sephiroth's shower, like his bed, was spacious enough for three, and some definite benefits came to mind when he pictured a vicious, irritable Zackary Donovan. Most of them involved shoving a snarling, struggling Zack up against the shower wall… _Not worth the effort. He'll wake up naturally in about two hours though. He always does. _Sephiroth sighed. _Not that I'll still be in here at that point, but…_

It was strange, the fact that leaving Zack alone in his rooms didn't bother Sephiroth. Until yesterday, he'd never allowed _anyone_ inside his apartment, but it felt…natural, somehow, to have Zack and Cloud in there with him. Or without him, for that matter. Sliding out from beneath Zackary's outstretched limbs, Sephiroth made his way to the bathroom. He would have time for idle speculation later. For now…

Cloud was already in the shower, standing underneath a hot spray of water, steam twisting and rising in the air around him. Seizing two towels from a cabinet beside the door, he set them down on the edge of the sink and pulled back the clear shower door, stepping inside to join Cloud.

"Morning," Cloud whispered, rising up on his toes to press a kiss to Sephiroth's lips.

"Your neck?" Sephiroth asked as he pulled back from the kiss, sighing as the hot water pounded down on his tight muscles.

"Fine," Cloud replied, tilting his head to the side so that Sephiroth could see the long, shallow slice down the side of his neck. It was scabbed over and already healing, the skin still pale and not red with infection or irritation. "See?"

Sephiroth nodded and pulled Cloud up against him, watching avidly as rivulets of water cascaded over Cloud's skin, giving his pale flesh the look of lightning-sculpted glass. He kissed Cloud, joining their mouths together in a warm glow of gentle seduction. This kiss wasn't about power or need, or even the fervent desperation of long-denied desire of the previous night. This was about Cloud, and he wanted the boy to sense that. It was an apology of sorts, a reconciliation and a promise. As the water cleansed his skin of the remaining traces of their earlier activities, Sephiroth ran his hands slowly, smoothly down his lover's back, tracing the lines of developing muscle and exploring the curve of his spine, the sharp planes of his shoulder blades. His hands drifted lower as the kiss became deeper, hungrier, and Cloud leaned into Sephiroth, allowing the older man to support his weight almost entirely.

Cloud broke the kiss, his eyes falling closed of their own accord as his head fell to rest against the General's shoulder, his breathing heavy and ragged, his body begging intently for attention, for release. He hadn't known it would feel like this when he'd first decided to go after Zack and Sephiroth, hadn't known what they would be able to do to him, to make him feel. It was overpowering, this sense of _wanting_ that flooded his veins. His body was hard and throbbing, and Cloud whimpered, throbbing unconsciously, insistently against Sephiroth's well-muscled thigh.

Sephiroth licked his lips and slid his hand between Cloud's thighs, closing his fist around Cloud's sex and using his other arm to keep the boy standing upright. He moved, pulling and stroking, carefully monitoring Cloud's reactions and his breathing, his pupils dilating with every needy whimper that escaped the younger man's parted lips. Sephiroth could feel his own sex hardening, reacting to Cloud and Cloud's obvious pleasure, but he ignored it. This wasn't about him.

As Cloud trembled and shuddered toward release, the water rained down around them, the white noise drowning out the rest of the apartment, the rest of the world. There were only the two of them, alone in a falling cascade of crystal droplets, Cloud's gasps fading into the rush of the water, his fingers clutching at Sephiroth's arms as the General's hand moved faster and more demandingly over his sex. His knees were weak, his legs threatening to buckle beneath him if Sephiroth's grip slipped for even a moment, but Cloud wasn't worried. He trusted Sephiroth, and he knew that the General would hold him steady. Sephiroth's hand squeezed tight around him, and Cloud's eyes flew wide at the wild spark of intense pleasure. He could see Sephiroth now, the General's eyes dark and clouded, his slitted pupils expanded to cover most of his eyes. His lips were parted slightly, his hair a dark, mottled silver that framed his face like streams of mercury. He looked driven. He looked debauched, and it drove Cloud over the edge. He came, shuddering, into the General's hand, the near-scalding water immediately washing away all evidence of his fervent gratification. Staring up at Sephiroth through pleasure-glazed eyes, Cloud forced his lips into a slight, trembling smile.

And collapsed in his lover's arms.

Zack sagged in the doorway, wiping the evidence of his own release on a towel he'd snagged from the sink basin. He dropped the towel carelessly to the floor. His breathing was heavy, and never had he been so glad he'd forced himself out of the bed before he was good and ready. He'd woken up when the warmth of Sephiroth's presence had faded, leaving the bed cold and empty, and the sounds of the shower—and the mental image of Cloud and Seph _in _the shower—had been enough to force him out from between the sheets.

And he would be eternally grateful for that. Never in his life had he expected to bear witness to a scene that anything approaching what he'd just witnessed. _Sephiroth… Cloud… hands… water…_ Zack swallowed thickly. It had been incredible. Shaking his head in an attempt to clear out some of the lingering stars, Zack looked up when the water shut off and the shower door slid open.

Sephiroth cocked an eyebrow when he noticed Zack leaning against the doorway, still naked, but he couldn't say he was really surprised. Even if he wasn't a morning person, Zack had never been one to miss out on anything, if he could help it. The General smiled to himself. Zack would make a perfect addition to his little plan. Stepping out of the shower and pulling Cloud with him, his arm locked tightly around the young man's waist, Sephiroth cast a significant look at Zack. He shoved a still dazed Cloud lightly toward the dark-haired man, muttering, "Catch."

Zack seemed to understand what he wanted with no difficulty, and Sephiroth commended himself once again for choosing an admirable Second-in-Command. Zack might be a lot to handle, but he was definitely good at his job.

Zack caught Cloud and held him, his chest to Cloud's back, his hands wrapped tightly around Cloud's chest, pinning the boy's arms down at his sides. He grinned. "I think you might be in for a bit of trouble, Spike."

"Huh?" Cloud asked in reply.

But Sephiroth was already moving toward them, his body shedding water in shimmering rivulets, his walk the stalking gait of a predator with its prey in sight. He stopped, his face bare inches from Cloud's. "Now, Private, I want a few answers from you."

Cloud paled, understanding fading slowly back into his blue eyes, but he shook his head determinedly.

"No?" Sephiroth smiled, his eyes narrowed. "No, you _will_ answer me, Strife. My questions revolve around your actions of yesterday."

Cloud shook his head again, but he didn't struggle to break free of Zack's grasp. What was the point? It wouldn't happen. Even if he had been willing to use his only possible defense, which would have been to piston his leg backward into Zack's crotch, Zack had them pressed tightly together, allowing him no room whatsoever for such a gutsy move. "There's no _way _I'm answering _those _kinds of questions, Seph."

Sephiroth arched an eyebrow. "You would ignore the demands of your commanding officer?"

"No," Cloud stared up at Sephiroth. "You said last night that in your rooms you weren't my General. You were just Sephiroth. And, _just _Sephiroth, I don't have to answer your questions if I don't want to."

_More games, little Soldier? _Sephiroth smiled inwardly. This boy made life so much fun. He jabbed a hand between Cloud's legs and squeezed. Hard.

Cloud squeaked, his eyes going wide and wary. He cleared his throat and said, in a rasping almost whisper, "Okay. Ask away, boss."

Sephiroth nodded. "Much better. Now, I understand the lies you whispered into Zack's ear, and I'll forgive you those. I even understand the cafeteria and the involvement of Sinclaire. You had to get both Zackary and myself up here, after all, and you knew you couldn't manage it by legitimate means. Though Iwill _not_ forgive you the medication and the electrocution. You'll be cleaning toilets and scrubbing floors for two months at the least, not to mention pulling trash and doing any other manner of grunt work. And Zack has full permission to pound you into the ground during practice sessions, several times over if he desires. I'm throwing you everything but extra hours, Strife. And all your spare time will be spent in my company. Understand?"

Cloud gulped. He nodded slowly.

"Good. Now, what I want to know is this: did you allow Reno Sinclaire into my apartment?"

Cloud's eyes flew wide and he snapped his mouth tightly shut. He shook his head.

Sephiroth's eyes narrowed. "I can smell Sinclaire's stench from three buildings away, Cloud, and I know he was here. You might as well admit it."

Cloud swallowed again, thickly. "Just for a second. I couldn't get you onto the couch by myself, after all."

"But _Sinclaire_?"

"Who else would have helped carry General Sephiroth's unconscious body up the stairs in complete secrecy?" Cloud asked in all seriousness.

Zack nodded. The kid _did _have a point.

Sephiroth cocked an eyebrow. "How about Rufus ShinRa?"

Cloud squeaked again. Zack snickered.

"ShinRa also bears a distinct scent, though not one as distasteful as Sinclaire's." He leaned in, his lips a bare breath away from Cloud's. "I give you fair warning, Cloud. You pull anything like that again, and you'll wish I'd broken every bone in your body. Understand?"

"Yeah, I think I got it…" Cloud whispered, his tongue darting out to swipe across his lips.

"Good," Sephiroth murmured again. Then he pulled Cloud from Zack's grasp and pressed their lips together in a heated kiss. "I love you." Releasing Cloud, he pulled Zack into his arms and drew him into a kiss as well, this one softer, though his teeth nipped sharply at Zack's full lower lip. "And you. And now, it's time for work." He turned to leave.

"Wait!" Zack grabbed a towel—the clean one—and tossed it to Seph. "What are you gonna do to Reno?"

Sephiroth smiled. "I believe I'm going to repaint my office with his blood." He paused for a second. "No, I'll have _him _do it. Then he'll expire, neatly, in the trash bin." He leveled a pointed stare at Cloud. "Which _you_ will empty."

Cloud and Zack blinked at one another as Sephiroth wandered into his bedroom to get dressed, leaving them to their own devices.

Zack coughed. "I wonder what's he's planning, that you'll _wish _he'd broken all your bones."

Cloud shrugged and pulled another towel from the cabinet. "He wouldn't go through with it anyway." He hesitated. "Probably."

Zack laughed and ruffled Cloud's hair. "So, Spike…was it worth it?"

A slow smile spread across Cloud's face and he moved to wrap his arms around Zack's shoulders. Rising up on his toes, he placed an impish kiss on the tip of Zack's nose. Then he grinned. "Well, I won, didn't I?"


	10. Epilogue: Shiver

Win to Lose  
Epilogue: Shiver

Rating: PG  
Summary: Zack sees all.

Zack strolled down the hall, hands in his pockets, snickering to himself. He was glad Sephiroth wasn't trying to get revenge on _him._ He'd just left Cloud—bruised and aching from an extended private practice session (he _was_ the most promising new cadet, after all)—scrubbing toilets in the security complex. He hadn't looked happy. Zack smiled. In fact, Cloud had rather resembled a chocobo whose feathers had been brushed in the wrong direction.

Zack almost started whistling. Things were definitely back to normal around here. Well, as normal as they could be with the three of them sharing Sephiroth's bed as often as could be arranged.

Zack shivered as an agonized groan echoed down the corridor from the direction of Sephiroth's office. He'd seen Reno heading that way not long before. Too curious to just walk away, Zack turned.

He stopped in the open door of Seph's office on his way down the hall and peaked his head in. "Everything all right in here?"

Sephiroth didn't answer. He didn't have to. His satisfied smirk said it all.

Zack shivered again and backed slowly out the door. It wasn't wise for anyone—even a best friend, hell, a _lover_—to be within the General's reach when he was feeling bloodthirsty. "I'll see you in a couple of hours, Seph. Have fun gloating."

Shrugging and shaking his head, Zack continued down the hall. He found Reno leaning heavily against the wall around the corner, a dark bruise rising on one cheek, clutching his stomach and his crotch in deepest agony. Zack cocked his head to the side and studied the man. "A busted face and an electrocuted stomach?"

Reno coughed. His voice came out a bit higher pitched than usual. "And a bit extra."

Zack stifled a smirk, one black eyebrow rising in question. "Exile from SOLDIER premises?"

Reno just nodded.

Zack licked his lips. "And the chance to electrocute and render unconscious the Great General Sephiroth?"

A slow grin spread across battered face. "Priceless, yo."


End file.
